Airborne Avenger (pinball)
Inside of advertising flyer | |
| Manufacturer | Atari, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Release date | September 1977 |
| System | Atari Generation/System 1 |
| Design | Steve Ritchie |
| Programming | Eugene Jarvis |
| Artwork | George Opperman |
| Sound | Eugene Jarvis |
| Production run | 3,420 |
Airborne Avenger is a 1977 widebody pinball machine released by Atari, and is the first designed by Steve Ritchie.
Design
While working as a technician at Atari, Steve Ritchie learned from Bob Jonesi who designed Atari's first pinball game, Atarians and began to design a game himself. After a rejection from his supervisor he took his idea to the head of Atari, Nolan Bushnell who gave him a space to work on the game.[1]
The prototype for the game was then built in four weeks.[2] Working as an engineer, Claude Fernandez assisted with the detailed layout and precise location of mechanical components.[3]
Eugene Jarvis worked on the software for the game, including getting the lights to flash in sequence.[4] When the game is not being played it has an attract mode where the lights give a show to attract potential players.[5] The speaker plays different tones when various scores are collected by the player.[5]
The backglass image was designed by George Opperman,[6] who also created the Atari logo.[7] Starlog described this image as a chisel faced man wearing sunglasses against a bald villain.[8]
The score display is on the lower left of the playfield,[9] and the boards controlling the game are contained in the main cabinet.[10]
In common with other early Atari pinball machines, a Motorola 6800 processor was used, and the playfield was larger than other manufacturers.[11]
Gameplay
There are two main objectives for players: to hit various targets to advance the bonus score awarded at the end of a ball, and to spell AIRBORNE AVENGER by hitting various other targets.[5][12]
Reception
In a review for Play Meter Roger Sharpe awarded the game 3/4, finding it an improvement on Atari's two previous games, suggesting it would do better as a 5 ball game rather than a 3 ball game.[12]
RePlay said it offered "target variety for every level of player expertise".[13]
In 2014, Steve Ritchie described it as his worst game.[14]
References
- ^ Goldberg, Marty (2012). Atari Inc Business is Fun. Syzygy Company Press. pp. 417–420. ISBN 9780985597405.
- ^ "The Flipside profile: Steve Ritchie" (PDF). The Flipside. Vol. 4, no. 3. 1995. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2025.
- ^ Shalhoub, Michael (2004). The pinball compendium: 1970-1981. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-7643-2074-3.
- ^ "Eugene Jarvis". Retro Gamer. No. 24. April 2006. pp. 78–79.
- ^ a b c Airborne Avenger - Operation, Maintenance and Service Manual (PDF). Atari Inc. 1977.
- ^ Heribert, Eiden; Lukas, Jurgen (1992). Pinball Machines. Schiffer Publishing. p. 153. ISBN 0-88740-431-6.
- ^ "Airborne Avenger Pinball Artwork". nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
- ^ "The next SF craze". Starlog. No. 12. March 1978. p. 9.
- ^ Rossignoli, Marco (2011). The Complete Pinball Book. Schiffer. pp. 141, 268. ISBN 0764337858.
- ^ Luck, Dale (July 27, 2024). "CAX Atari Pinball Reunion". California Extreme 2024 show guide. p. 13.
- ^ Fulton, Steve (November 6, 2007). "The History of Atari: 1971-1977". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2021-08-23. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
- ^ a b Sharpe, Roger C. (November 1977). "Critic's Corner". Play Meter. Vol. 3, no. 21. pp. 59–60.
- ^ "Airborne Avenger scores big". RePlay. Vol. 3, no. 2. November 1977. p. 74.
- ^ "DPO Expo 2014". Pinball News. November 2014. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
External links
Airborne Avenger at the Internet Pinball Database